Deal has ended. view more bank account bonuses by clicking here.
Update 3/11/25: Deal is back and valid until 04/15/2025
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount: $250
- Availability: Nationwide, business checking customers not eligible
- Direct deposit required: Yes, $500+
- Additional requirements: None
- Hard/soft pull: Soft pull
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: None
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: Unknow
- Household limit: None
- Expiration date: October 31, 2023
Contents
The Offer
- American Express is offering a $250 bonus when you open a new personal checking account and complete the following requirements:
- Receive two qualifying direct deposits of $1,000 or more
The Fine Print
- Earn a Welcome Bonus of $250 deposited into a new American Express Rewards Checking account after you do each of the following:
- Open an American Express Rewards Checking Account in your name by October 31, 2023.
- Have a Qualifying Direct Deposit posted to your American Express Rewards Checking Account by December 10, 2023.
- Applying for an American Express Rewards Checking account can be completed in minutes. We are currently accepting applications from Card Members with a U.S. Basic Consumer Card issued by American Express National Bank with 3+ months tenure.
- After you have completed the above, American Express will deposit your Welcome Bonus into your Rewards Check Account within 8-12 weeks.
- A Qualifying Direct Deposit is a single ACH transfer of $500 or more from an employer or the government for a paycheck, pension, government benefit (such as Social Security), or tax refund. The following are not Qualifying Direct Deposits: person to person transfers (P2P), demand deposit account to demand deposit account transfers (for example, from a checking account to another checking account), and deposits or ACH transfers not from an employer or the government (for example, online transfers or bank transfers).
- You are not eligible for the Welcome Bonus if you have an existing Rewards Checking Account. Each individual customer may only have one Rewards Checking Account. You must keep your account open and in good standing until we award you your welcome Bonus. If your account is closed for any reason prior to such time, including being closed by us, you will not be eligible for the Welcome Bonus. If we determine, in our sole discretion, that you have violated the Rewards Checking Account Terms or have engaged in abuse, misuse, or gaming in connection with your account, we may determine that you are not eligible for the Welcome Bonus. In such circumstance, we may rescind or decline to award you the Welcome Bonus.
- Your Welcome Bonus may be taxable income to you and may be reported on IRS Form 1099. You are responsible for any federal or state taxes resulting from the Welcome Bonus. Please consult your tax advisor if you have questions about the tax treatment of the Welcome Bonus. Your Welcome Bonus may not be transferred, sold, traded, or combined with other Welcome Bonuses. You are only eligible for one Welcome Bonus. Limit one Welcome Bonus per American Express Rewards Checking Account. American Express reserves the right to modify or revoke this Welcome Bonus offer at any time without notice.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
This account has no monthly fees
Early Account Termination Fee
Unsure if there is any EATF
Our Verdict
We have never seen a public sign up bonus on this account (there has been many bonuses on the business checking bonuses before) but there was a targeted offer for $200. Some people might prefer to wait for a bigger bonus as we did see them increase with business checking. This deal itself is great though and we will add it to our best bank bonus page.
Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
- A Beginners Guide To Bank Account Bonuses
- Bank Account Quick Reference Table (Spreadsheet) (very useful for sorting bonuses by different parameters)
- PSA: Don’t Call The Bank
- Introduction To ChexSystems
- Banks & Credit Unions That Are ChexSystems Inquiry Sensitive
- What Banks & Credit Unions Do/Don’t Pull ChexSystems?
- How To Use Our Direct Deposit Page For Bank Bonuses Page
- Common Bank Bonus Misconceptions + Why You Should Give Them A Go
- How Many Bank Accounts Can I Safely Open Within A Year For Bank Bonus Purposes?
- Affiliate Links & Bank Bonuses – We Won’t Be Using Them
- Complete List Of Ways To Close Bank Accounts At Each Bank
- Banks That Allow/Don’t Allow Out Of State Checking Applications
- Bank Bonus Posting Times
Did anyone else get 2 factor authentication when they opened this account, where they have to open their app *every single time* they want to log in from desktop, even if they click trusted browser?
If so is there any way to turn it off? It’s really annoying…
Yes, all the time. It started when I opened card accounts with them this year. I rely on the app now to biometrics in. Even that was asking for 2fa for awhile and then it finally unstuck
How many days after opening do you have to complete the 2x $1000 DDs?
AmEx says: After your account is created, you’ll need to fund your account within 60 days to keep it open.
I’ve got it funded within that time period, but how long do I have to do the $1000 DDs?
$1001 real DD on 3/17 and again on 3/31
Still no bonus
Opened on 3/12
Balance of $1.xx sitting in there still
Still waiting as well. My dates are within a couple days of yours.
DP (Incomplete, will update):
4/4/25: Opened Account, intending to simulate DD with Merrill Edge (per a successful DP on the List of Methods Banks Count page).
Added new account as a recipient from Merrill Edge. Merrill sent test deposits to confirm the account, which prompted a “your account has been funded” email for the amount of the test deposits. Funny.
4/7/25: $1000 Push from Merrill coded as Online Transfer / Payment: Credit
4/9/25: $1000 Push from Merrill coded as Online Transfer / Payment: Credit
4/10/25: Transferred $1625 out, leaving a balance of $375 in the account (seemed like a reasonable amount, don’t ask me why)
4/21/25: Have not yet received any further emails pertaining to the bonus, nor has the bonus arrived. Holding out hope.
Based on other DPs it seems to payout in batches the following month, around May 9-10th in our case hopefully. I’m in same timeline. Since your DD was the day before it probably didn’t roll in.
That’s my hope. If it doesn’t pay out by 6/10 I will probably assume failure and try to squeak a real DD in before the 90 day cutoff.
I did two real DD’s around March 20th and haven’t received anything yet.
At this point I’m assuming they’re sticking with their 8-12 week payout as stated in the terms. If I get paid earlier, it’ll be a nice surprise.
Did you receive any emails after DDs were completed?
Nope, I don’t think anyone here has.
How long do i need to keep my direct deposits in there until i transfer it back out?
As soon as the funds shows as “Available”, you can transfer it out. However, it’s a good idea to leave at least $1 in the account at all times.
I also like to use the account a bit, when possible, so it isn’t quite so obvious I’m only here for the bonus. This is especially true after the experience some had with etrade recently where they seemingly denied bonuses for not doing this.
In this case i have CC there so I just pay a card’s current balance and transfer the rest (except ~$50) out. $1.xx is probably sufficient but worth it to me to forgo a dollar or two of potential HYSA interest by keeping a bit more.
I just freed up a slot in my real DD but didnt realize that this was ending in the middle of the month. I thought I had till the month end 🙁
Anyone know if I transfer funds in the Coinbase if it will just let me transfer funds back out to another bank? I’m trying to see if this can trigger the American Express direct deposit requirement.
I messaged Amex support about something, and also asked about the Amex checking promotion while I was at it (wanted to make sure it was attached to my account and such). They said my deposits qualified and I’d receive the bonus at most 90 days later, but they said it could be anytime after the second deposit
What did you use for deposits?
Dealgamer
Essentially real DD, no useful DPs to share on that front unfortunately
Man this thread is so dry. I’m ready for some DP’s to start rolling in!
Data point for Chase Biz (worked fine) / Amex $250 offer.
account opened 12/07/2024
DD1 via Chase 12/10/2024 $1005
DD2 via Chase 12/12/2024 $1005
$250 bonus awarded 01/09/25.
Doing Chase now. Did you receive an email that you completed the sub? Or anything related?
thanks for the data point? how was your transaction coded? “Online Transfer / Payment: Credit”?
Is there a typo in your dates? I don’t think 250 was advertised anytime in 2024.
Googled around and saw that there were people that received targeted emails for $250 AMEX Checking offers in Q4 2024